US8100177B2 - Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material - Google Patents

Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material Download PDF

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US8100177B2
US8100177B2 US12/358,168 US35816809A US8100177B2 US 8100177 B2 US8100177 B2 US 8100177B2 US 35816809 A US35816809 A US 35816809A US 8100177 B2 US8100177 B2 US 8100177B2
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fracture
proppant
borehole
neutron
post
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US20090205825A1 (en
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Harry D. Smith, Jr.
Robert Duenckel
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Carbo Ceramics Inc
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Carbo Ceramics Inc
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Priority to US12/358,168 priority Critical patent/US8100177B2/en
Application filed by Carbo Ceramics Inc filed Critical Carbo Ceramics Inc
Priority to PCT/US2009/031878 priority patent/WO2009105306A1/en
Priority to DK09711997.8T priority patent/DK2252766T3/en
Priority to CN200980113764.9A priority patent/CN102007267B/zh
Priority to MX2010009261A priority patent/MX2010009261A/es
Priority to EP09711997.8A priority patent/EP2252766B1/en
Priority to BRPI0907576-3A priority patent/BRPI0907576B1/pt
Priority to CA2715622A priority patent/CA2715622C/en
Priority to EA201001336A priority patent/EA017285B1/ru
Priority to AU2009215761A priority patent/AU2009215761B2/en
Assigned to CARBO CERAMICS INC. reassignment CARBO CERAMICS INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SMITH, MICHAEL P., DUENCKEL, ROBERT, SMITH, HARRY D., JR.
Priority to US12/425,884 priority patent/US8214151B2/en
Publication of US20090205825A1 publication Critical patent/US20090205825A1/en
Priority to US12/820,576 priority patent/US8234072B2/en
Priority to NO20101221A priority patent/NO343859B1/no
Priority to CO10116240A priority patent/CO6300879A2/es
Publication of US8100177B2 publication Critical patent/US8100177B2/en
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    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B49/00—Testing the nature of borehole walls; Formation testing; Methods or apparatus for obtaining samples of soil or well fluids, specially adapted to earth drilling or wells
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00—Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/25—Methods for stimulating production
    • E21B43/26—Methods for stimulating production by forming crevices or fractures
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01V—GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; TAGS
    • G01V5/00—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity
    • G01V5/04—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging
    • G01V5/08—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays
    • G01V5/10—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays using neutron sources
    • G01V5/101—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays using neutron sources and detecting the secondary Y-rays produced in the surrounding layers of the bore hole
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01V—GEOPHYSICS; GRAVITATIONAL MEASUREMENTS; DETECTING MASSES OR OBJECTS; TAGS
    • G01V5/00—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity
    • G01V5/04—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging
    • G01V5/08—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays
    • G01V5/10—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays using neutron sources
    • G01V5/107—Prospecting or detecting by the use of ionising radiation, e.g. of natural or induced radioactivity specially adapted for well-logging using primary nuclear radiation sources or X-rays using neutron sources and detecting reflected or back-scattered neutrons

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to hydraulic fracturing operations, and more specifically to methods for identifying an induced subterranean formation fracture using neutron emission-based logging tools.
  • frac operations In order to more effectively produce hydrocarbons from downhole formations, and especially in formations with low porosity and/or low permeability, induced fracturing (called “frac operations”, “hydraulic fracturing”, or simply “fracing”) of the hydrocarbon-bearing formations has been a commonly used technique.
  • frac operations induced fracturing
  • fluids are pumped downhole under high pressure, causing the formations to fracture around the borehole, creating high permeability conduits that promote the flow of the hydrocarbons into the borehole.
  • These frac operations can be conducted in horizontal and deviated, as well as vertical, boreholes, and in either intervals of uncased wells, or in cased wells through perforations.
  • the high pressure fluids exit the borehole via perforations through the casing and surrounding cement, and cause the formations to fracture, usually in thin, generally vertical sheet-like fractures in the deeper formations in which oil and gas are commonly found.
  • These induced fractures generally extend laterally a considerable distance out from the wellbore into the surrounding formations, and extend vertically until the fracture reaches a formation that is not easily fractured above and/or below the desired frac interval.
  • the directions of maximum and minimum horizontal stress within the formation determine the azimuthal orientation of the induced fractures.
  • the fluid sometimes called slurry, pumped downhole does not contain solids that remain lodged in the fracture when the fluid pressure is relaxed, then the fracture re-closes, and most of the permeability conduit gain is lost.
  • proppants are generally composed of sand grains or ceramic particles, and the fluid used to pump these solids downhole is usually designed to be sufficiently viscous such that the proppant particles remain entrained in the fluid as it moves downhole and out into the induced fractures.
  • materials called “breakers”, which are also pumped downhole in the frac fluid slurry reduce the viscosity of the frac fluid after a desired time delay, enabling these fluids to be easily removed from the fractures during production, leaving the proppant particles in place in the induced fractures to keep them from closing and thereby substantially precluding production fluid flow therethrough.
  • the proppants may also be placed in the induced fractures with a low viscosity fluid in fracturing operations referred to as “water fracs”.
  • the fracturing fluid in water fracs is water with little or no polymer or other additives.
  • Water fracs are advantageous because of the lower cost of the fluid used. Also when using cross-linked polymers, it is essential that the breakers be effective or the fluid cannot be recovered from the fracture effectively restricting flow of formation fluids. Water fracs, because the fluid is not cross-linked, do not rely on effectiveness of breakers.
  • Ceramic proppants are typically manufactured from naturally occurring materials such as kaolin and bauxitic clays, and offer a number of advantages compared to sands or resin coated sands principally resulting from the compressive strength of the manufactured ceramics and their highly spherical particle configuration.
  • acoustic well logs have been used. Acoustic well logs are sensitive to the presence of fractures, since fractures affect the velocities and magnitudes of compressional and shear acoustic waves traveling in the formation. However, these logs are also affected by many other parameters, such as rock type, formation porosity, pore geometry, borehole conditions, and presence of natural fractures in the formation.
  • acoustic-based fracture detection technology is the use of “crack noise”, wherein an acoustic transducer placed downhole immediately following the frac job actually “listens” for signals emanating from the fractures as they close after the frac pressure has been relaxed.
  • This technique has had only limited success due to: (1) the logistical and mechanical problems associated with having to have the sensor(s) in place during the frac operation, since the sensor has to be activated almost immediately after the frac operation is terminated, and (2) the technique utilizes the sound generated as fractures close, therefore effective fractures, which are the ones that have been propped open to prevent closure thereof, often do not generate noise signals as easy to detect as the signals from unpropped fractures, which can generate misleading results.
  • Arrays of tilt meters at the surface have also been previously utilized to determine the presence of subterranean fractures. These sensors can detect very minute changes in the contours of the earth's surface above formations as they are being fractured, and these changes across the array can often be interpreted to locate fractured intervals. This technique is very expensive to implement, and does not generally have the vertical resolution to be able to identify which zones within the frac interval have been fractured and which zones have not, nor can this method effectively determine if the fracture has extended vertically outside the desired vertical fracture interval(s).
  • Microseismic tools have also been previously utilized to map fracture locations and geometries.
  • a microseismic array is placed in an offset well near the well that is to be hydraulically fractured.
  • the microseismic tool records microseisms that result from the fracturing operation.
  • a first such nuclear logging method uses radioactive materials which are mixed at the well site with the proppant and/or the frac fluid just prior to the proppant and/or frac fluid being pumped into the well. After such pumping, a logging tool is moved through the wellbore to detect and record gamma rays emitted from the radioactive material previously placed downhole, the recorded radioactivity-related data being appropriately interpreted to detect the fracture locations.
  • a second previously utilized nuclear logging method is performed by pumping one or more stable isotopes downhole with the proppant in the frac slurry, such isotope material being capable of being activated (i.e., made radioactive) by a neutron-emitting portion of a logging tool run downhole after the fracing process.
  • a spectroscopic gamma ray detector portion of the tool detects and records gamma rays from the resulting decay of the previously activated “tracer” material nuclei as the tool is moved past the activated material. The gamma spectra are subsequently analyzed to identify the activated nuclei, and thus the frac zones.
  • One or both of these previously utilized nuclear-based techniques for locating subterranean fractures has several known limitations and disadvantages which include:
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wellsite frac layout.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing logging of a downhole formation containing induced fractures.
  • FIGS. 3A and 3B are plan views from the orientation of the Z-axis with respect to “para” and “perp” tool placement geometries relative to the fracture.
  • FIGS. 4A-4F are graphs of three detectors modeled at different locations (near, far, xfar) on a compensated neutron tool showing neutron count rate sensitivity as a function of fracture width and boron carbide (B 4 C) concentration in proppant.
  • FIGS. 4G-4L are similar to FIGS. 4A-4F , with gadolinium oxide (Gd 2 O 3 ) replacing B 4 C as the high capture cross section material in the proppant.
  • Gd 2 O 3 gadolinium oxide
  • FIGS. 5A and 5B are graphs evaluating the depth of measurement using two detectors at different locations (near and far) on a compensated neutron tool.
  • FIG. 5A is a graph of near and far detector count rates as a function of the modeled outer radius of the formation containing a fracture.
  • FIG. 5B is a graph of near and far detector count rates modeled for a compensated neutron tool in the “para” orientation, in response to doped proppant located in differential fracture volume elements placed radially outward from the wellbore casing.
  • FIGS. 6A-6B show modeled points along the decay curves of detected thermal neutron capture gamma rays using a 14 MeV Pulsed Neutron Generator.
  • FIGS. 6A and 6B show for detectors at three spacings from the source, the decay curve data before ( FIG. 6A ) and after ( FIG. 6B ) proppant doped with boron carbide is placed in fractures, together with the computed formation and borehole decay components in both equation and graphical representations.
  • FIG. 6C shows similar decay curves obtained with tagged proppant in the borehole annulus instead of the formation fractures.
  • the upper (highest count rate) decay curves and components are from the near detector, the intermediate decay data is from the far detector, and the lowest count rate decay data is from the xfar detector.
  • FIGS. 7A-7B are exemplary well logs for identification of proppant in the formation and the borehole region.
  • FIG. 7A is an example of a well log obtained from a compensated neutron tool with three thermal neutron detectors (near, far, and xfar detectors respectively carried on the tool at progressively greater distances above its neutron generating portion).
  • a pulsed neutron capture tool with a capture gamma ray detector or a thermal neutron detector would generate a well log similar to FIG. 7B .
  • a pulsed neutron capture tool has at least two detectors, a near detector and a far detector, and each detector generates a well log.
  • the methods described herein do not use complex and/or high resolution gamma ray spectroscopy detectors.
  • spectral data analysis methods are not required, and the depth of investigation is deeper than nuclear techniques employing downhole neutron activation.
  • the logistics of the operation are also very simple: (1) the proppant can be prepared well in advance of the required frac operations without worrying about radioactive decay associated with delays, (2) there are no concerns related to radiation exposure to the proppant during proppant transport and storage, (3) any excess proppant prepared for one frac job could be used on any subsequent frac job, and (4) the logging tools required are widely available and generally inexpensive to run. Also, slow logging speed is not an issue and there is no need for sophisticated gamma ray spectral deconvolution or other complex data processing (other than possible log normalization).
  • the cost of the procedure when using neutron or compensated neutron tools is much lower than methods requiring expensive tracer materials, sophisticated detection equipment, high cost logging tools, or sophisticated data processing.
  • Embodiments of the present invention include a method for determining the location and height of a fracture in a subterranean formation using a pulsed neutron capture tool (“PNC”), a compensated neutron tool, or a single detector neutron tool.
  • the method includes obtaining a pre-fracture data set, hydraulically fracturing the formation with a slurry that includes a liquid and a proppant in which all or a fraction of such proppant includes a thermal neutron absorbing material, obtaining a post-fracture data set, comparing the pre-fracture data set and the post-fracture data set to determine the location of the proppant, and correlating the location of the proppant to a depth measurement of the borehole to determine the location and height of the fracture.
  • PNC pulsed neutron capture tool
  • compensated neutron tool or a single detector neutron tool.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets are each obtained by lowering into a borehole traversing a subterranean formation, a neutron emitting tool including a continuous or pulsed fast neutron source and one or more thermal neutron or gamma ray detectors, emitting neutrons from the neutron source into the borehole and formation, and detecting in the borehole region thermal neutrons or capture gamma rays resulting from nuclear reactions of the source neutrons with elements in the borehole region and subterranean formation.
  • the term “borehole region” includes the logging tool, the borehole fluid, the tubulars in the wellbore and any other annular material such as cement that is located between the formation and the tubular(s) in the wellbore.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets are used to distinguish proppant in the formation from proppant in the wellbore.
  • the PNC logging tool generates data that includes log count rates, computed formation thermal neutron capture cross-sections, computed borehole thermal neutron capture cross-sections, and computed formation and borehole decay component count rate related parameters.
  • the compensated neutron tool is used to determine the location and height of a fracture in a formation and the porosity of the formation.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets generated from a compensated neutron tool includes count rates and count rate ratios.
  • An embodiment of the present invention uses a single detector thermal neutron tool to determine the location and height of a fracture.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets generated from a single detector thermal neutron tool include count rates.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets are normalized prior to the step of comparing the pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets. Normalization involves adjusting the pre-fracture and post-fracture data for environmental and/or tool differences in order to compare the data sets.
  • the frac slurry includes a proppant containing the thermal neutron absorbing material.
  • the proppant doped with the thermal neutron absorbing material has a thermal neutron capture cross-section exceeding that of elements normally encountered in subterranean zones to be fractured.
  • the proppant containing the thermal neutron absorbing material has a macroscopic thermal neutron capture cross-section of at least about 90 capture units, and preferably up to 900 capture units or more.
  • the proppant material is a granular ceramic material, with substantially every grain of the proppant material having a high capture cross section thermal neutron absorbing material integrally incorporated therein.
  • the thermal neutron absorbing material is boron, cadmium, gadolinium, iridium, or mixtures thereof.
  • Suitable boron containing high capture cross-section materials include boron carbide, boron nitride, boric acid, high boron concentrate glass, zinc borate, borax, and combinations thereof.
  • a proppant containing 0.1% by weight of boron carbide has a macroscopic capture cross-section of approximately 92 capture units.
  • a suitable proppant containing 0.025-0.030% by weight of gadolinium oxide has similar thermal neutron absorption properties as a proppant containing 0.1% by weight of boron carbide.
  • Most of the examples set forth below use boron carbide; however those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any high capture cross section thermal neutron absorbing material, such as gadolinium oxide, can be used.
  • the proppant utilized includes about 0.025% to about 4.0% by weight of the thermal neutron absorbing material. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the proppant includes a concentration of about 0.1% to about 4.0% by weight of a boron compound thermal neutron absorbing material. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, the proppant includes a concentration of about 0.025% to about 1.0% by weight of a gadolinium compound thermal neutron absorbing material.
  • the proppant may be a ceramic proppant, sand, resin coated sand, plastic beads, glass beads, and other ceramic or resin coated proppants.
  • Such proppants may be manufactured according to any suitable process including, but not limited to continuous spray atomization, spray fluidization, spray drying, or compression. Suitable proppants and methods for manufacture are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,068,718, 4,427,068, 4,440,866, 5,188,175, and 7,036,591, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • the thermal neutron absorbing material is added to the ceramic proppant during the manufacturing process such as continuous spray atomization, spray fluidization, spray drying, or compression.
  • Ceramic proppants vary in properties such as apparent specific gravity by virtue of the starting raw material and the manufacturing process.
  • the term “apparent specific gravity” as used herein is the weight per unit volume (grams per cubic centimeter) of the particles, including the internal porosity.
  • Low density proppants generally have an apparent specific gravity of less than 3.0 g/cc and are typically made from kaolin clay and alumina.
  • Intermediate density proppants generally have an apparent specific gravity of about 3.1 to 3.4 g/cc and are typically made from bauxitic clay.
  • High strength proppants are generally made from bauxitic clays with alumina and have an apparent specific gravity above 3.4 g/cc.
  • a thermal neutron absorbing material may be added in the manufacturing process of any one of these proppants to result in proppant suitable for use according to certain embodiments of the present invention.
  • Ceramic proppant may be manufactured in a manner that creates porosity in the proppant grain.
  • a process to manufacture a suitable porous ceramic is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,591, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. In this case the thermal neutron absorbing material is impregnated into the pores of the proppant grains to a concentration of about 0.025 to about 4.0% by weight.
  • the thermal neutron absorbing material is incorporated into a resin material and ceramic proppant or natural sands are coated with the resin material containing the thermal neutron absorbing material.
  • Processes for resin coating proppants and natural sands are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
  • a suitable solvent coating process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,191, to Graham et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • Another suitable process such as that described in U.S. Pat. No.
  • the methods of the present invention may be implemented with ceramic proppant or natural sands coated with or otherwise containing the thermal neutron absorbing material.
  • a suitable thermal neutron absorbing material is either boron carbide or gadolinium oxide, each of which has an effective thermal neutron absorbing capacity at a low concentration in tagged proppant or sand.
  • the concentration of such thermal neutron absorbing materials is generally on the order of about 0.025% to about 4.0% by weight of the proppant.
  • the concentration is about 0.1% to about 4.0% by weight of the proppant, and for gadolinium compounds such as gadolinium oxide, the concentration is about 0.025% to about 1.0% by weight of the proppant.
  • these concentrations are low enough such that the other properties of the tagged proppant (such as crush strength) are essentially unaffected by the addition of the high capture cross section material.
  • any high capture cross-section thermal neutron absorbing material may be used in the embodiments of the present invention, in embodiments of the present invention which employ pulsed neutron tools, boron carbide or other boron containing materials may be used because thermal neutron capture by boron does not result in measurable gamma radiation in the detectors in the logging tool.
  • gadolinium oxide or other gadolinium containing materials may be used because a smaller amount of the gadolinium-containing tagging material is required relative to boron containing materials.
  • the weight percentage required to produce similar thermal neutron absorption properties for other high thermal neutron capture cross section materials will be a function of the density and molecular weight of the material used, and on the capture cross sections of the constituents of the material.
  • a manufactured ceramic proppant containing about 0.025% to about 4.0% by weight of a thermal neutron absorbing material can be cost effectively produced, and can provide useful fracture identifying signals when comparing neutron, compensated neutron, or PNC log responses run before and after a frac job. These signals are capable of indicating and distinguishing between the intervals that have and those that have not been fractured and propped.
  • a well site fracturing operation involves blending water with a gel to create a viscous fracturing fluid.
  • the proppant including a thermal neutron absorbing material is added to the viscous fracturing fluid creating a slurry, which is pumped down the well with high pressure pumps.
  • the high-pressure slurry is forced into the fractures induced in the formation, and possibly also into the borehole region adjacent to the fractures.
  • the proppant particles are pumped downhole in a liquid (frac slurry) and into the induced fractures, and also possibly into the borehole region adjacent to the zones where the fractures have penetrated into the surrounding formations.
  • FIG. 2 depicts a logging truck at the well site with a neutron, compensated neutron, or PNC logging tool at the depth of the induced fracture. Power from the logging truck (or skid) is transmitted to the logging tool, which records and transmits logging data as the tool is logged past the fracture zone(s) and the formations above and/or below the zone(s) being fractured.
  • the induced hydraulic fracture identification process using a proppant having a thermal neutron absorbing material and measurements from a neutron (including compensated neutron) or pulsed neutron capture (PNC) logging tools includes:
  • Preparing proppant doped with a thermal neutron absorbing material by fabricating the proppant from starting materials that include a thermal neutron absorbing material, by coating the thermal neutron absorbing material onto the proppant or by impregnating or otherwise incorporating the thermal neutron absorbing material into the proppant.
  • a pre-fracture thermal neutron or compensated neutron log including single or multiple detector tools
  • a PNC log across the potential zones to be fractured to obtain a pre-fracture data set, and preferably also including zones outside the potential fracture zones.
  • a post-fracture neutron, compensated neutron, or PNC log (utilizing the same log type as used in the pre-fracture log) across the potential zones of fracture including one or more fracture intervals to obtain a post-fracture data set, and preferably also including zones outside the interval where fracturing was anticipated.
  • the logs may be run with the tool centered or eccentered within the casing or tubing.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs are preferably run in the same condition of eccentricity.
  • the gains and/or offsets are applied to the logs to bring about agreement between the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs in these normalization intervals.
  • the same gains/offsets are then applied to the logs over the entire logged interval. Differences in the data indicate the presence of proppant in the fracture and/or the borehole region adjacent to a fracture.
  • the observed count rate decreases in the post-fracture log relative to the pre-fracture log indicates the presence of proppant containing a strong thermal neutron absorbing material. Small changes in count rate ratios may also be indicative of the presence of proppant.
  • first and second post-fracture data sets are obtained and utilized to determine the differences, if any, between the quantities of proppant in the fracture zones before producing a quantity of well fluids from the subterranean formation and the quantities of proppant in the fracture zones after such production by comparing the post-fracture data sets.
  • the determined proppant quantity differences are utilized to determine one or more production and/or fracture-related characteristics of the subterranean formation such as: (a) one or more of the fracture zones is not as well propped as it was initially, (b) production from one or more of the fracture zones is greater than the production from the other zones, and (c) one or more of the fracture zones is not producing.
  • This post-fracturing procedure may be carried out using a compensated neutron logging tool or a pulsed neutron capture logging tool, possibly augmented with other wellsite information or information provided by other conventional logging tools, such as production logging tools.
  • fast neutrons are emitted from a neutron source into the wellbore and formation, and are rapidly thermalized to thermal neutrons by elastic and inelastic collisions with formation and borehole region nuclei.
  • Elastic collisions with hydrogen in the formation and the borehole region are a principal thermalization mechanism.
  • the thermal neutrons diffuse in the borehole region and the formation, and are eventually absorbed by one of the nuclei present. Generally these absorption reactions result in the almost simultaneous emission of capture gamma rays; however, absorption by boron is a notable exception.
  • the detectors in the logging tool either directly detect the thermal neutrons that are scattered back into the tool (in most neutron and compensated neutron tools, and also in some versions of PNC tools), or indirectly by detecting the gamma rays resulting from the thermal neutron absorption reactions (in some versions of neutron and compensated neutron tools, and in most commercial versions of PNC tools).
  • Most compensated neutron and PNC tools are configured with a neutron source and dual detectors arranged above the neutron source which are referred to herein as a “near” detector and a “far” detector.
  • compensated neutron and pulsed neutron capture tools may be used that include one or more detectors.
  • suitable compensated neutron and PNC tools incorporate a neutron source and three detectors arranged above the neutron source, which are referred to herein as the near, far, and “extra-far” or “xfar” detectors such that the near detector is closest to the neutron source and the xfar detector is the farthest away from the neutron source. It is also possible that one or more of the neutron detectors may be located below the neutron source.
  • a compensated neutron tool also computes the ratio of near-to-far detector count rates.
  • the porosity (hydrogen index) of the formation can be determined from these count rates and the near-to-far detector count rate ratios.
  • a pulsed neutron capture tool logging system measures the decay rate (as a function of time between the neutron pulses) of the thermal neutron or capture gamma ray population in the formation and the borehole region. From this decay rate curve, the capture cross-sections of the formation ⁇ fm (sigma-fm) and borehole ⁇ bh (sigma-bh), and the formation and borehole decay components can be resolved and determined.
  • the differences between the PNC borehole and formation pre-fracture and post-fracture parameters can be used to distinguish proppant in the formation from proppant in the wellbore, as shown in the exemplary FIG. 7B .
  • FIGS. 4A to 5B and Tables 1-4 The data used to generate FIGS. 4A to 5B and Tables 1-4 was modeled using neutron or compensated neutron tools employing thermal neutron detectors, such as He 3 detectors. It will be understood that it would also be possible to employ corresponding processing for these tools using gamma ray sensing detectors, or detectors which sense both neutrons and gamma rays.
  • the PNC data used to generate FIGS. 6A to 6C was modeled using tools employing gamma ray detectors.
  • a capture gamma ray detector measures gamma rays emitted after thermal neutrons are captured by elements in the vicinity of the thermal neutron “cloud” in the wellbore and formation.
  • Capture gamma rays differ significantly from “activation” gamma rays in at least the following manners. Capture gamma rays are emitted essentially simultaneously with neutrons from a source colliding with and being absorbed by target nuclei, the emitted capture gamma rays, following each thermal neutron capture, generally disappearing in less than 1/1,000,000th of a second (one microsecond).
  • the emission of capture gamma rays results from a totally different nuclear reaction than the nuclear reaction which generates activation gamma rays that are emitted after a delay following thermal neutron capture by nuclei, with the elements being activated becoming radioactive and transmuted into different nuclides via alpha or beta decay processes prior to emitting the activation gamma rays.
  • the subsequently generated activation gamma rays have half lives ranging from several seconds to several days, and in some cases to several years.
  • MCNP5 Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code version 5
  • the MCNP5 is a software package that was developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory and is commercially available within the United States from the Radiation Safety Information Computation Center (http://www-rsicc.oml.gov).
  • the MCNP5 software can handle geometrical details and accommodates variations in the chemical composition and size of all modeled components, including borehole fluid salinity, the concentration of the thermal neutron absorbing material in the proppant in the fracture, and the width of the fracture.
  • the MCNP5 data set forth below resulted in statistical standard deviations of approximately 0.5-1.0% in the computed count rates.
  • the proppant was doped with boron carbide; however other suitable thermal neutron absorbing materials, such as gadolinium oxide, may be used.
  • the proppant is a granular ceramic material into substantially every grain of which the dopant is integrally incorporated.
  • FIGS. 3A and 3B present views along the Z-axis of the geometries used in the MCNP5 modeling.
  • the 8 inch diameter borehole is cased with a 5.5 inch O.D. 24 lb/ft. steel casing and no tubing, and is surrounded by a 1 inch wide cement annulus.
  • the 1.6875 inch diameter tool is shown in the parallel (“para”) position in FIG. 3A and in the perpendicular (“perp”) position in FIG. 3B .
  • the decentralized logging tool is aligned with the fracture, and in the “perp” position it is positioned 90° around the borehole from the fracture.
  • FIGS. 3A and 3B the formation area outside the cement annulus was modeled as a sandstone with a matrix capture cross-section of 10 capture units (cu). Data was collected for water-saturated formations with several porosities. These two figures show the idealized modeling of the formation and borehole region that was used in most MCNP5 runs.
  • the bi-wing vertical fracture extends radially away from the wellbore casing, and the frac slurry in the fracture channel replaces the cement in the channel as well as the formation in the channel outside the cement annulus.
  • the width of the fracture channel was varied between 0.1 cm and 1.0 cm in the various modeling runs.
  • the entire cement annulus was replaced by proppant doped with boron carbide.
  • the MCNP5 model does not provide output data in the form of continuous logs, but rather data that permit, in given formations and at fixed positions in the wellbore, comparisons of pre-fracture and post-fracture logging responses.
  • the MCNP5 software modeled a compensated neutron logging tool with a continuous neutron source and one or more thermal neutron detectors, and the resulting count rate(s) and count rate ratios were recorded for the geometries shown in FIGS. 3A or 3 B. These observed parameters were then compared to corresponding values recorded in MCNP5 runs made before a well was fractured. Decreases in observed count rates in the post-fracture data relative to the pre-fracture data in FIGS. 4A-4F for various fracture widths and boron carbide concentrations are indicative of the presence of the boron carbide doped proppant, and hence the presence of the induced fractures.
  • the formation material and accompanying fractures were modeled to extend out to a radius of 100 cm from the center of the borehole, and vertically from 40 cm below the source to 100 cm above the source.
  • the logging tool contained three He 3 thermal neutron detectors spaced away from an Americium-Beryllium (AmBe) neutron source. As shown in Table 1, formation porosity was modeled as 28.3%, 14.15%, 7.1%, and 3.5%.
  • Table 1 shows modeled thermal neutron count rates in a typical downhole formation geometry for three different source to detector spacings.
  • the percentage change from undoped proppant shown in Table 1 is the percentage count rate reduction from the count rate when boron carbide doped proppant is in the fractures (C1%), relative to the count rate with no B 4 C present (C0%) and is calculated as (C1%-C0%)/C0%.
  • the modeling data assumes the use of the 1.6875 inch diameter through-tubing neutron tool, and formation and borehole geometry described in FIGS. 3A and 3B .
  • the formation being fractured has a low capture cross-section typical of candidate frac zones.
  • the borehole casing and cement conditions are also typical (5.5 inch casing filled with non-saline fluid, and a 1 inch thick cement annulus surrounding the casing).
  • the width of the fracture is 1.0 cm.
  • the ceramic proppant in the fracture was modeled to be CARBO ECONOPROP®, which is a low density proppant having an apparent specific gravity of 2.7 and which is commercially available from CARBO Ceramics Inc. having 1.0% (w/w) boron carbide, but is otherwise typical.
  • the formation porosity is assumed to be 28.3%, 14.15%, 7.1%, and 3.5%. In the case ofthe 28.3% porosityformation, the hydrogen index of the frac fluid plus proppant is the same as that of the formation without a fracture present.
  • the effect of the boron carbide doped proppant on the count rates can be seen directly, without any influence of a change in hydrogen index of the frac slurry.
  • the boron carbide doped proppant was assumed to be located only in the fracture itself.
  • the computed decrease in count rate when the decentralized tool is aligned with the fracture plane (“para” geometry in FIG. 3A ) varies somewhat with source-detector spacing, but in all cases is significant (an approximately 10-13% reduction relative to the situation when no fracture is present). With a larger diameter tool that displaces more of the borehole fluid, the signal would be even larger. Similar results would be obtained if gadolinium oxide is used as the high capture cross section material instead of boron carbide.
  • Table 1 illustrates the effect of similar fracturing in lower (14.15%, 7.1%, and 3.5%) porosity formations.
  • the lower porosity formations were modeled instead of a 28.3% porosity formation, somewhat larger signals were generally observed relative to those in the 28.3% porosity formation.
  • the increased signals in the lower porosity formations are due to the additional neutron attenuating effect produced by the higher hydrogen concentration in the frac fluid relative to that in the low porosity formations. These signals would be even more pronounced if the formation had been modeled to contain gas as well as, or instead of, water (or oil).
  • concentrations of boron carbide in the proppant higher than 1.0% would be of only limited utility. However, if it is anticipated that fracture widths in certain types of formations would tend to be very narrow, the boron carbide concentration in the proppant can be increased to the range of about 1.0% to about 4.0%.
  • FIGS. 4G-4L illustrate exactly the same formation, borehole and fracture conditions as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4F , however gadolinium oxide was used as the high cross section material instead of boron carbide. As can be seen, only 25-30% as much gadolinium oxide relative to boron carbide is required to produce similar decreases in count rates.
  • FIGS. 5A and 5B data was collected to determine the depth of the investigation of the measurement, in other words, how far back into the formation from the casing could boron carbide doped proppant with 1.0% boron carbide be detected in a 1.0 cm wide fracture.
  • FIG. 5A data is modeled for the fracture extending outward from the borehole to progressively deeper depths into the formation. Good fracture sensitivities in the count rates were observed out to about 10 cm from the casing, i.e. 7.5 cm out past the cement annulus.
  • FIG. 5B integrates the contribution from a small incremental volume of fracture material, as this volume element is modeled progressively further from the casing. From the data in both of these figures, it can be seen that the sensitivity of the detected count rates to any proppant greater than 10 cm radially from the casing is greatly reduced.
  • Table 2B presents similar data for Gd 2 O 3 proppant in the annulus alone as well as with proppant in both the annulus and in a 0.4 cm wide fracture.
  • Several different concentrations of Gd 2 O 3 (0.0%, 0.054%, 0.27%, and 0.45%) are illustrated for the proppant in the annulus.
  • the 0.0% data represents standard (undoped) ceramic proppant.
  • the 0.27% data represents a Gd 2 O 3 concentration roughly equivalent in effect to the 1% B 4 C doped proppant in Table 2A.
  • the 0.054% data in Table 2B illustrates the annulus containing the Gd 2 O 3 proppant at a reduced concentration (simulating 20% of the untagged proppant in the annulus being replaced by proppant containing 0.27% Gd 2 O 3 ).
  • the data with 0.45% Gd 2 O 3 indicates the effect of further increasing the concentration of Gd 2 O 3 in the proppant.
  • Table 2B with 0.27% gadolinium oxide replacing the 1% boron carbide in the proppant, indicates that approximately 25-30% decreases in count rate are observed with Gd 2 O 3 tagged proppant relative to untagged proppant in the annulus. This is roughly the same effect as observed in Table 2A with 1% B 4 C in the annulus.
  • the data in Table 2B also illustrates the significance of a lower percentage (20%) fill of the annulus with the tagged proppant, where the concentration of Gd 2 O 3 was reduced by a factor of five to 0.054%.
  • Table 3 illustrates the sensitivity of the neutron count rates to a change in the borehole fluid salinity (BFS), from the non-saline fluids described in the above figures to fluids with salinities up to 250 Kppm NaCl (the salinity of saturated salt water).
  • BFS borehole fluid salinity
  • the borehole fluid salinity related count rate decreases are also similar to or larger in magnitude relative to the frac signal with tagged proppant in the borehole annular region as shown in Tables 2A and 2B. Also, as shown in Table 3, regardless of borehole salinity, as long as the salinity does not change between the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs, the presence of boron carbide in the proppant in the fracture can easily be detected (10-15% reduction in count rate).
  • pre-fracture log it may also be possible in many situations to eliminate the pre-fracture log entirely if a prior neutron log, pulsed neutron log, or compensated neutron log has already been run in the well. That log, possibly also normalized to the post-fracture log as described above, could be substituted for the pre-fracture log.
  • a similar normalization procedure might be required if different tools or neutron sources are used for pre-fracture and post-fracture log runs, or if a pre-existing or synthesized neutron, compensated neutron, or PNC log is used to substitute for the pre-fracture log.
  • the data shown in Table 4 demonstrates the limited sensitivity of compensated neutron near/far detector count rate ratios to the presence of the boron carbide doped proppant relative to the sensitivity of the ratio to changes in formation porosity.
  • the near/far detector count ratios (N/F) with and without boron carbide doped proppant are shown for various formation and borehole conditions. There appear to be only small ratio increases with the proppant present. From this data, and the count rate data in Tables 1 and 2A, FIGS. 4A-4F , and FIGS. 5A-5B it can be seen that a dual spaced thermal neutron ratio is influenced significantly less by the presence of boron carbide doped proppant than the individual count rates themselves. A similar ratio insensitivity was observed with Gd2O3 replacing B4C in the proppant.
  • the proppant contains 1% boron carbide, and the fractures are 1 cm wide, and the geometry is the “para” position shown in FIG. 3A .
  • the one standard deviation statistical uncertainty in each ratio is ⁇ 2% (or less) of the ratio value. Since compensated neutron tools use a ratio to determine formation porosity, it is possible to use the count rate decreases observed in the post-fracture logs to indicate fractures, while simultaneously using the post-fracture count rate ratio data to indicate formation porosity, virtually independent of the presence of the proppant and fracture.
  • FIG. 7A is an exemplary neutron/compensated neutron well log comparison between pre-fracture and post-fracture data sets.
  • the proppant used in the frac was tagged with a high thermal neutron capture cross section material.
  • the locations and heights of the fractured intervals are determined by correlating the intervals having differences in the pre-fracture and post-fracture count rate data to the corresponding depth intervals in the well.
  • the observed count rates in all three detectors are reduced in the post-fracture logs in intervals of fracturing, regardless of whether proppant is in the borehole or in the fracture or in both.
  • the absolute count rates are lower in the detectors farther from the source, and the fractional signals (separation between curves) may be slightly greater in the longer spaced detectors.
  • the pre-fracture and post-fracture log normalization intervals above and/or below the potential frac interval are used to normalize the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs in the situations where log normalization is required.
  • a PNC system having a 14-MeV pulsed neutron generator was modeled using MCNP5 to determine the height of a fracture in a formation. Decay curve count rate data detected in thermal neutron or gamma ray sensors are recorded after fracturing the formation. As in the case of neutron and compensated neutron tools, the observed parameters are then compared to corresponding values recorded in a logging run made before the well was fractured, again preferably made with the same or a similar logging tool and with the same borehole conditions as the post-fracture log. The formation and borehole thermal neutron absorption cross-sections are calculated from the two-component decay curves.
  • Increases in the formation and borehole thermal neutron absorption cross-sections in the post-fracture PNC logs relative to the pre-fracture logs, as well as decreases between the logs in the observed count rates and in computed formation and/or borehole component count rates and count rate integrals are used to identify the presence of boron carbide doped proppant in the induced fracture(s) and/or in the borehole region adjacent to the fractured zone.
  • a PNC tool can be used for data collection and processing to enable observation of both count rate related changes and changes in computed formation and borehole thermal neutron capture cross-sections so as to identify the presence of the neutron absorber in the proppant.
  • the formation component count rate will also be affected (reduced) by the presence of boron-containing absorbers in the proppant in the fractures, especially in PNC tools having gamma ray detectors.
  • the formation component count rate will also be reduced with boron present in the borehole region, since many of the thermal neutrons primarily decaying in the formation may actually be captured in the borehole region (this is the same reason a large number of iron gamma rays are seen in spectra from time intervals after the neutron bursts dominated by the formation decay component, although the only iron present is in the well tubular(s) and tool housing in the borehole region).
  • FIGS. 6A-6C and Tables 5A and 5B show MCNP5 modeled results for the PNC tool embodiment of the present invention.
  • NaI gamma ray detectors were used in all of the PNC models.
  • the data was obtained using a hypothetical 1.6875 inch diameter PNC tool to collect the pre-fracture data ( FIG. 6A ), and the post-fracture data ( FIG. 6B ) data with proppant having 1.0% boron carbide in a 1.0 cm wide fracture in a 28.3% porosity formation.
  • FIG. 6C illustrates post-fractlre data with proppant having 1.0% boron carbide proppant in the annular (cement) region instead of in the fractures in the formation.
  • borehole and formation conditions are the same as described in FIG. 3A .
  • the source-detector spacings are the same as those utilized in the previous neutron log examples.
  • the total count rates in each time bin along each of the decay curves are represented as points along the time axis (x axis).
  • the near detector decay is the slowly decaying upper curve in each figure
  • the far detector decay is the center curve
  • the x-far detector decay is the lower curve.
  • the computed formation decay components from the two exponential fitting procedures are the more slowly decaying exponentials (the solid lines in the figures) plotted on the total decay curve points in each figure (for each detector).
  • the divergence of the decay curve in the earlier portions of the curve from the solid line is due to the additional count rate from the more rapidly decaying borehole component.
  • the points representing the more rapidly decaying borehole region decay shown in the figures were computed by subtracting the computed formation component from the total count rate.
  • Superimposed on each of the points along the borehole decay curves are the lines representing the computed borehole exponential equations from the two exponential fitting algorithms.
  • the R 2 values associated with each computed exponential component in FIGS. 6A-6C reveal how closely the computed values correlate to the actual data, with 1.0 indicating a perfect fit.
  • the good fits between the points along the decay curves and the computed formation and borehole exponential components confirm the validity of the two exponential approximations.
  • Table 5A displays the computed formation and borehole information from FIGS. 6A and 6B , and also similar information from decay curves computed with the fractures in the perp orientation relative to the tool (see FIG. 3B ).
  • Table 5A although the formation component capture cross-sections, ⁇ fm , are not observed to change as much as would be computed from purely volumetric considerations, there are nevertheless appreciable (up to 18%) increases observed in ⁇ fm with the boron carbide doped proppant in the fracture, depending on detector spacing.
  • the orientation of the tool in the borehole relative to the fracture is not as significant as was observed for the compensated neutron tools.
  • FIG. 6C indicates that increases in formation, and particularly borehole, component cross sections, and large decreases (up to 85% reductions) in both formation and borehole component count rates are observed with 1.0% B 4 C tagged proppant filling the cement annulus.
  • Table 5B represents data collected to show the effects of 0.2% B 4 C doped proppant in the borehole annulus (cement region) on PNC tools. This B 4 C concentration is representative of a 20% fill of the annulus with a proppant tagged with 1% B 4 C.
  • This reduced borehole component sensitivity to the proppant in the fracture can also be seen in the data in Table 5A, which shows ⁇ bh and A bh * ⁇ bh , computed from the decay data in FIGS. 6A and 6B for the pre-fracture and post-fracture decay curves. There are much smaller percentage changes in the borehole parameters ⁇ bh and A bh * ⁇ bh between the pre-fracture and post-fracture decay data as compared to the percent change of the formation parameters ⁇ fm and A fm * ⁇ fm .
  • This reduced borehole component sensitivity to the fracture is primarily due to the fact that the borehole region is not significantly different in these two situations (the fracture containing the proppant does not extend through the borehole region), and the borehole component is primarily sensing this region.
  • PNC formation parameters are less sensitive than neutron or compensated neutron to changes in non-proppant related changes in borehole conditions between the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs (such as borehole fluid salinity changes or changes in casing conditions). This is due to the ability of PNC systems to separate formation and borehole components. This can be seen in the data in Table 6, where the salinity of the borehole fluid was changed from fresh water to salt water (102 Kppm NaCl). The formation parameters are virtually insensitive to this change, while both borehole parameters are highly sensitive to the salinity change. Hence formation parameter changes due to the presence of tagged proppant will not be influenced by borehole condition changes between log runs. Also, changes in borehole parameters, coupled with the absence of changes in formation parameters, can be used to identify the places where the borehole region has changed between logs, since that change may also be of interest.
  • Modern multi-component PNC tools detect gamma rays, which can be used to compute formation decay components (and hence both ⁇ fm and A fm * ⁇ fm ) that are only minimally sensitive to most borehole region changes, as seen above. If a PNC tool measuring thermal neutrons instead of gamma rays is employed, ⁇ fm will also be sensitive to formation changes (tagged fractures) and relatively insensitive to borehole region changes. A fm * ⁇ fm will also be sensitive to the presence of proppant in the borehole, in part since the thermal neutrons will be additionally attenuated traversing this high capture cross-section borehole annulus between the formation and the detectors in the logging tool.
  • the changes in all four parameters ( ⁇ fm , A fm * ⁇ fm , ⁇ bh and A bh * ⁇ bh ) will generally be affected in the same way by tagged proppant as PNC tools containing gamma ray detectors.
  • the observed count rate decreases will likely be relatively smaller in tools with thermal neutron detectors than in tools with gamma detectors, due to the aforementioned absence of capture gamma rays following neutron capture by boron.
  • Changes in ⁇ fm and A fm * ⁇ fm may be monitored if a difficult to quantify change in borehole region conditions (such as changes in borehole fluid salinity or casing conditions) has occurred between the log runs. Since ⁇ fm is not very sensitive to changes in the borehole region, ⁇ fm may be monitored if it is desired to emphasize detection of tagged proppant in the formation as opposed to tagged proppant in the borehole region.
  • Another embodiment of the present invention provides for monitoring changes in ⁇ bh and A fm * ⁇ fm , and in come cases, A bh * ⁇ bh , (and a lack of change in ⁇ fm ) to detect proppant located in the borehole region.
  • FIG. 7B An exemplary well log comparison of pre-fracture and post-fracture logs using a PNC tool with a capture gamma ray detector or a thermal neutron detector is shown in FIG. 7B , which is representative of data received from one of the detectors (i.e. the near, far, or x-far detectors).
  • the proppant used in the frac was tagged with a high thermal neutron capture cross section material. Normalization of the pre-fracture and post-fracture logs in interval(s) outside of the suspected fractured zone may be required prior to making the comparison.
  • ⁇ fm increases and A fm * ⁇ fm decreases with tagged proppant only in the fracture, however ⁇ bh and A bh * ⁇ bh have only limited sensitivity to fracture (formation) proppant.
  • ⁇ fm is minimally affected, since borehole region changes do not tend to influence ⁇ fm .
  • a fm * ⁇ fm decreases in the post-fracture log.
  • ⁇ bh and A bh * ⁇ bh are also both sensitive to the presence of tagged proppant in the borehole region ( ⁇ bh increases and A bh * ⁇ bh decreases).
  • Reduced proppant could also indicate the fractured zones from which most of the production is coming, since proppant can only be produced from producing zones. No change in proppant could conversely be indicative of zones that are not producing, and hence provide information about zones that need to be recompleted. If PNC tools were used for these comparisons, it would also be possible to distinguish whether the proppant changes were coming from the borehole region or the formation fractures themselves, or both. If logs are run at multiple times after the first post-fracture log, then progressive changes could be monitored. Of course, it would also be useful to know whether a reduction in proppant detected was caused by a reduction in the quality of the propped fracture or caused by the zones with the highest production rates, or both.

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AU2009215761A AU2009215761B2 (en) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material
DK09711997.8T DK2252766T3 (en) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Borehole Logging Procedure with a Thermal Neutron Absorbent Material
CN200980113764.9A CN102007267B (zh) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 使用热中子吸收材料测井的方法
MX2010009261A MX2010009261A (es) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Metodo de registro de pozo utilizando material absorbente de neutron termico.
EP09711997.8A EP2252766B1 (en) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material
BRPI0907576-3A BRPI0907576B1 (pt) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Método de perfilar um poço usando um material de absorção de nêutrons térmicos
CA2715622A CA2715622C (en) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material
PCT/US2009/031878 WO2009105306A1 (en) 2008-02-20 2009-01-23 Method of logging a well using a thermal neutron absorbing material
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US12/425,884 US8214151B2 (en) 2008-02-20 2009-04-17 Methods of identifying high neutron capture cross section doped proppant in induced subterranean formation fractures
US12/820,576 US8234072B2 (en) 2008-02-20 2010-06-22 Methods of identifying high neutron capture cross section doped proppant in induced subterranean formation fractures
NO20101221A NO343859B1 (no) 2008-02-20 2010-09-02 Metode for logging av en brønn ved hjelp av et termisk neutronabsorberende materiale
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